Greek words (?) in the Bible

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asked 8 years ago

In honor of Rabbi Michael Avraham
My name is S., you probably know me from the synagogue in Petah Tikva.
During a conversation and correspondence with Dr. Yossi Glowinsky on linguistic issues
The issue of the possibility of finding words borrowed from Greek in the Bible has surfaced,
Such as the name Lapid, which, according to linguists, comes from the Greek name for Mephido, and more.
I told the doctor that I was not even willing to address the issue until I heard (or read)
A rabbi’s opinion on this.
We both agreed that you are the most appropriate rabbi to answer the issue.
I would be very grateful if you would please address the matter (by email or phone, as you wish).
With all due respect

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מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago

Dr. S. Hello. I certainly remember his honor from the Beit Ha-Khan. I am far from being an authority on this matter, if only because I am one of the Talmudic scholars and not one of the people of the Bible, and how can I put my head between the mountains until they tell me as they told the Re’ah: Go, go to the Negaim and Aholot. In any case, to your question and your honor, I will not leave the issue incomplete, and I will answer it briefly. First, I will preface this by saying that it is not right for Anad to condition opinions and judgment on any theoretical subject on rabbinical permission. Truth is the Torah, and the seal of God is truth. It is more correct to examine the arguments for their substance, and whatever emerges from such an examination will emerge. If things seem puzzling, they should be examined and the tradition that contradicts them should be examined correctly. And so we also learned from Maimonides’ words in the Book of Mormon regarding the eschatology and the eschatology, where he said that if he were scientifically and philosophically convinced of the eschatology or the eschatology, he would introduce it into the scriptures in a creative interpretation. And in the sixth of eight chapters, he contrasts the words of the philosophers (that the great righteous conquers his instinct) with the words of the sages (which is better to say, “I am not able to do so”). He argues that from his perspective, the words of the philosophers are not automatically rejected because of the words of the sages and tradition, but rather require a settlement. And for Anad, the same is true here.

As a matter of fact, it seems to me that the Sages have already made similar claims about the words for goat in the Bible. Not only in Aramaic, which appears in the Yager Sahaduta commentary (not to mention the Book of Daniel, which is written largely in Aramaic), but also in other languages. For example, Tet in Ketfi and Pat in Afrik (Babli Sanhedrin 4:2). For a brief explanation from the Shelah and a few other sources, see here: https://daf-yomi.com/DYItemDetails.aspx?itemId=11602 Now I also saw it here (Kutsher): http://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=8680 All the best and may you be blessed with the Oriya,

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Copenhagen Interpretation replied 7 years ago

There is an interesting article by Kent Kitchen that supports the hypothesis that Daniel is written in ”Imperial Aramaic”, the dialect that would be expected if the book were written around the 5th century BCE, and contrary to the accepted example that says it originated in the Hasmonean period.

https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/tp/notes-daniel/daniel_kitchen.pdf

Without the possibility of investigating things of this kind without hindrance, how would we know that the accepted example rests on a shaky foundation?

And as Shad”l says (Deuteronomy 28:23):

” And in truth, this thing attributed to Abaye has nothing to rely on, for in verse 20 it is written, Because of the evil of your deeds, which you have forsaken me, and not because you have forsaken the Lord. And from all this we must learn how free inquiry was among our ancestors, even though the sages of the Mishnah said in a baraita (Sanhedrin 69): For the word of God in this is that which says that there is no Torah from heaven, and even the entire Torah is from heaven, except for this verse that the Blessed One did not say, but Moses from his own mouth, this is because the word of God in this; nevertheless, the sages of the Talmud did not refrain from saying that the curses in the Mishnah Torah were spoken by Moses from his own mouth.